Dozens of people were hit with pepper spray by Seattle police officers Tuesday night as a group of protesters refused to leave a downtown intersection. (Story here.)

Shoving matches with police and arrests of Occupy Seattle protesters were reported earlier in the afternoon in the Belltown neighborhood.

But tensions escalated Tuesday night when protesters saw that local activist Dorli Rainey, 84, had been hit directly in the face by pepper spray (photo above). Moments later a woman who identified herself as Jennifer, a regular at the protests, was also sprayed. Frantic people gathered around the woman who said she was two months pregnant. They called an ambulance when breathing became difficult for the woman, she started to vomit and complained of cramping.

Officers seemed to spray indiscriminately as people moved slowly from the street to the sidewalk. They had been warned multiple times by officers to not block traffic in the intersection.

SPD spokesperson Jeff Kappel wrote on the department’s blog that “Pepper spray was deployed only against subjects who were either refusing a lawful order to disperse or engaging in assaultive behavior toward officers.”

The Occupy Seattle protests have tested the patience of police in what has mostly been a cordial back and forth between protesters and officers. Shoving matches have erupted, notably one in the Capitol Hill neighborhood on November, 3rd. But unlike other cities unwillingly hosting Occupy encampments, police have mostly stood on the sidelines in Seattle.

In an email to The Stranger, Dorli Rainey, who is known as a local activist and once ran for mayor of Seattle, said she was on her way to a transportation meeting when she stopped to check out the Occupy Seattle protest.